The truth was Bellamy was impossible not to like.
She waved a hand before going to the sink to get a cloth that I assumed she would use to clean up her son. “It’s nothing exciting, just some stuff I had in my closet. I figured it would at least get you through until you manage to get some things of your own.”
I glanced into the sack, noting the different fabrics and colors. “I, uh, didn’t really have a lot of time to pack.”
“Been there,” she said, and just from her tone, I could tell she actually had.
Bellamy turned her attention to cleaning off Shaw and peppering his face with kisses. “You’re so sticky!” she exclaimed, making him laugh.
“Daaaaadaaaa,” he told her.
“Daddy is at work. We’ll see him later.”
“Thank you,” I said, still touched she’d brought me some clothes. It would be nice to get out of the pajamas and Alex’s shirt.
Shaw began fussing, his lower lip wobbly in a sad pout. “Daaa.” He whimpered, then began to cry.
Bellamy sighed. “He’s a daddy’s boy.”
Alex rose from the table, towering over both Bellamy and the baby. “Step aside.”
Bellamy did, and Alex scooped him out of the chair, tucking him into his arms. The baby looked even smaller against him. “No need for all that.” He snagged a piece of bacon off the table and held it out to Shaw.
“Charlie!” he beckoned.
The dog rushed over and sat down, gazing up at both of them with drool hanging from his giant mouth.
“Here, give this to Charlie,” Alex told Shaw.
His face lit up, and he took the bacon, holding it out. Because Alex was holding him and he didn’t know to hold it low, Alex had to squat a bit so the bacon was level with the dog. Charlie glanced at Alex before going for the snack.
“Easy.” Alex warned him, and his tail beat against the floor before the dog gently took the bacon from the baby.
Shaw laughed and beamed. Alex swiped a stray tear off his pudgy cheek while Bellamy smiled.
The ache in my chest turned painful, feeling like someone was squeezing my heart and making it impossible to breathe.
“I think I’ll just go get out of this shirt. Put on some pants,” I said, taking the bag and hot-footing it from the room.
I closed myself in Alex’s bedroom, sagging once I was blissfully alone. In the past couple days, I’d been battered with emotions. Seeing Alex out there in such an intimate setting, doing things with people I’d always wanted him to do with me was just too much.
I needed some space. Some time to process and think. Daniel was out there right now, probably doing something beyond dangerous, and I was here because I was his weak spot. It was all I should focus on right now. About my actual family… not the one I didn’t have.
The bag of clothes contained a basic pair of black leggings, which felt like heaven to pull on. There was also a pair of socks (good-bye bare feet!), a sports bra that was actually a little loose in the boobage area (because I was seriously lacking in that department), and an oversize long-sleeve hooded T-shirt in an army green color.
I could have cried when I saw a few simple toiletries, including a brush and a ponytail holder. Clearly, she had been in a similar situation because she knew just how important these little things were.
I went into his bathroom, avoiding thinking about the butterflies that fluttered around when I set my items on the counter alongside his.
I thought those stupid butterflies died.
It took a long time to brush the tangles out of my fine hair, and when I was done, I pulled it up into a bun on the top of my head to hopefully keep it from getting that way again. Once I finished up in the bathroom, I gathered all the items and made sure his space looked exactly as it had before I entered.
Being dressed made me feel more together. Readier to deal with the day ahead. I stuffed my lone pair of pajamas into the bag with the few other outfits she’d so kindly packed and then glanced at the flannel I’d tossed on his bed.
Liam commented it was Alex’s favorite shirt. Why had he given me that one to wear?
Probably because it was the first one his hand closed over in the dark. Don’t be making more out of it than there is, Sabrina. Don’t be stupid.
Straightening my spine, I grabbed up the soft, worn fabric and tossed it farther up on his bed. I wouldn’t be needing it anymore.
The bedroom door swung open, and Alex strode in.
I spun around and glared. “Don’t you knock?”
“This is my room.”
“I could have been naked.”
“All the more reason not to knock.” He wagged his eyebrows.
“In your dreams, pal.”
He smiled, a slow kind of knowing smile, and my stomach dipped.
“Whatever. I’m done in here.” I started to charge past, the bag hitting against my leg as I went.
Alex clotheslined his arm out, hooking me around the waist and lifting. My feet left the ground for a fraction of a second as he towed me back.
I glared up at him. “Excuse you.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked, catching me off guard.
I forgot he was annoying me. “What?”
“Something is wrong, and I want to know what it is.”
I forgot how in tune he always seemed to be with me. I sniffed, looking away. “Nothing is wrong.”
The soft, playful way he whispered, “Liar,” made the muscles in my lower abdomen clench.
“Look,” I snapped, angry. “I might be forced to stay here for a short while, but let’s get something straight.”
His lips jerked like he was trying not to smile, and my frustration increased tenfold.
“You are not privy to my thoughts and feelings. You do not get to ask personal questions, and if you do, I won’t answer them. I’m only here because my brother insisted, so let’s not get caught up in pretending we care about each other.”
The smile disappeared as I laid down the law.
His eyes narrowed and regarded me coolly, penetrating the air with a distinct chill. “So it’s like that, huh?”
I nodded briskly.
He shifted, stepping close. So close his scent wafted around me. “You do care, kitten. You care more than you want to.”
A tingle of awareness brushed down my spine. I shoved him back with both my hands. He stumbled, his eyes widening with surprise.
“Get over yourself,” I spat and marched toward the door.
“Sabrina.”
I stopped, commanded by his voice. I didn’t turn around, though. I stared straight ahead at the door, planning my escape.
“I do, too,” he whispered.
Desire sparked within me, threatening to become a raging fire. I swallowed, then fled, running from the room and his words.
Alex
I walked into Liam’s office, and his eyebrows shot halfway up his head when he saw me.
“I’m going to have to call you back,” he abruptly said into the phone pressed against his ear and then hung up.
Dropping into the seat across from his massive desk, I said, “I hope that wasn’t someone we needed cash from, because we ain’t getting it now.”
He didn’t seem very concerned. “What are you doing here?”
“I work here.”
“I thought you were taking some time.”
I sighed loudly. “It’s been two days.”
Liam laughed.
I glared at him.
Then he laughed some more. “Things not going well on the home front?”
I rubbed a hand over my face. “She’s driving me fucking crazy.”
Leaning back in his desk chair, Liam kicked up his feet and propped them on his desk. His hands planted over his middle, and he grinned like a cat with a full belly. “Tell me more.”
“Frankly, I’m offended at the amount of joy you’re getting outta this, Mattison.”
A low, deep chuckle filled the room, and I rolled my eyes.
He kicked out of the chair and strode across the room to a bar cart, where he pulled out two longneck beers from underneath.
“You gotta beer fridge in here?” I demanded, offended. “All I got is some shitty coffee maker.”
He handed over the frosty bottle and sat down beside me. “Where is she right now?”
“Downstairs checking out some of the shops and shit. She was curious about the resort.”
“You’re cool with it?”
“I never would have left her down there if I didn’t think she was safe,” I snapped.
“Testy,” Liam drawled.
I snarled and lifted the beer to my mouth. After I swallowed, I said, “There’s so much tension in my house. I’m surprised the roof hasn’t blown off. We skirt around each other and barely talk. When we do, it’s to argue.”
“Might as well get it over with and just have sex already.”
I made a sound. “I want her so fucking bad.”
Liam scoffed. “Then what’s the problem?”
“She’s the problem!” I burst out, leaping from the seat to pace the room. “She’s off-limits. The only reason she’s here is because she has to be. This is a job. I owed Mercer.”
“Because of me.”
I glanced around at Liam, a question in my gaze.
He cleared his throat. “You owed him for something you set up last year, right?”
We never talked about what went down with Perry Crone and the details of how his demise came to be. It didn’t really matter because getting rid of him—for good—was all that mattered.
“It’s not a big deal,” I commented.
“The fuck it isn’t. You’re dragged back into this shit because of what you did for me and Bells.”
“I did what I did with open eyes. I’m a big boy. I made my choices.”
“You should have let me take care of him,” Liam rumbled, going to the window to look out.
“What? No.”
“I’m glad that fucker is gone, but sometimes I still wish I’d been the one to send him into hell.”
“It doesn’t matter how he got there, just that Satan is twisting his balls right now.”
Liam turned, his stare flat. “And when someone comes for Sabrina, will it matter then?”
My tongue ran over my teeth as I seethed. God help the man who came for Brina. Just thinking about it made my scalp prickle and my hands clench with the desire to kill.
It was like a bucket of cold water.
That right there. That was exactly what I’d been wanting to keep Liam from having to live with. The desire to kill. Once you take one life, it somehow becomes easier to take another. It’s a heavy burden on a man’s soul, a constant battle. It wasn’t as if I walked around wanting to off everyone I saw, but when you were faced with a threat or a severe injustice, it was easier to reach the conclusion that taking it out permanently was the best solution.
Urgency thumped under my skin and made me paranoid. I grabbed the cell out of my pocket and hit a button. On the second ring, I started for the door.
“What?” She picked up before the third, stopping me.
“What took so long to answer the GD phone?”
“It rang twice, you moron.”
I stared up at the ceiling and tried to hold on to my temper. Didn’t she understand that she made me crazy? “And I’m asking why you didn’t answer on the first ring,” I asked through gritted teeth.
“I was making out in the bathroom with some random ski dude I met.”
A mean sound rumbled out of me, anger coming fast. See? This is what I mean… I had the sudden desire to kill whoever she was lying about. A guy who didn’t even exist was now on my hit list. “Tell him to have a seat at the bar and enjoy a drink on the house. It’s the last one he’ll ever have.”
There was a brief, poignant pause on the other end of the line.
“Brina!” I yelled.
“I was in line for a coffee.”
I said a little prayer to Baby Jesus and all his lambs.
Behind me, Liam started to laugh.
I held my hand up in the air, displaying what I thought of that. He laughed louder.
“Is there something you needed?” she asked, her voice cautious. Clearly, she sensed my mood, because she dialed way back on the sarcasm.
“I just wanted to make sure everything was okay down there. Nothing out of the ordinary?”
“You just saw me ten minutes ago.”
“And I want to know if you’re okay,” I said, holding on to what little patience I had left.
“I’m fine, Alex.”
The way she said my name made my fingers tighten around my cell and my cock twitch in my jeans. The thought of her kissing anyone else but me set my blood to boiling. “I changed my mind about you being alone down there. Come up to the executive level and down the hall to Liam’s office. Just ask one of the receptionists where to go.”
“You can’t be serious.”
My reply was cool and calm. “You can come up, or I will come down and get you.”
“Did something happen?” she asked. I could hear the worry in her voice. “Is it Daniel?”
I scared her. Stupid.
I blew out a breath and forced myself to relax. Strange, I didn’t even have to work to gentle my voice, though. It was like my body responded to her anxiety and automatically worked to soothe it. “No, kitten, nothing happened. I would just prefer if you were up here.”
“I’ll be right up.”
My eyes shut briefly. “Thank you.”
I turned back to Liam as I was jamming the phone into my jeans. He was smirking.
“Don’t even fuck—”
“You have it so bad.” He cut me off, a cheese-eating expression on his face.
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. “It doesn’t matter. Like I said, she’s off-limits.”
“Why?”
The simple question drew me up short. I blinked. For the span of a heartbeat, I couldn’t think of one logical reason I couldn’t just take her.
Then I remembered. “I hurt her, bro. Bad.”
Liam cocked his head to the side. “She wasn’t the only one who got hurt.”
My eyes lifted.
He nodded. “I might have been prisoner to a hospital bed, jacked up on pills, and generally screwed up when you came home from the army, but even I could see how much you left behind when you walked.”
“I’m no good for her, Liam.”
“Why don’t you let her be the judge of that?”
I barked a laugh. “Oh, she would tell you the same thing, probably adding in some colorful hand gestures.”
“Maybe she could teach you a thing or two,” Liam quipped. “‘Cause you giving me the finger on the daily is getting boring.”
I laughed. It felt good.
The bottle of beer Liam was holding made a thunking sound when he set it on top of his desk. I was pretty sure he hadn’t even had a sip of it, but I’d already downed half of mine.
“I saw the way she looked at you the other night. She might have been hotwiring the Hummer to get out of there, but I can guarantee she doesn’t really want away from you.”
“Look, I’m gonna need a few more days off. I’m having some shit delivered tomorrow, amping up my security at the house. And I’m still not comfortable leaving her alone for very long.”
“Ten minutes seems to be your limit.” Liam observed, his eyes laughing.
“That little brat told me she was making out in the bathroom with some ski fucker!”
Liam laughed out loud. “I like her.”
I made a colorful gesture, suggesting he should suck my cock.
“Good one,” he commended around some chortling. “She just wanted to get a rise out of you. Clearly, it worked.”
Yeah. Yeah, I guess it did.
A tentative knock on the office door sounded, and I stalked forward and wrenched it open.
Liam’s assistant squeaked in surprise and jolted backward.
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“Sorry about that,” I offered, smiling apologetically. “I was expecting someone else.”
She recovered quickly and smiled back. “No problem, Mr. Carter.” I gave her a look, and she giggled. “Alex.”
“Liam’s in here.” I gestured into the room, but she didn’t come closer.
“You said you are expecting someone?” she questioned.
I nodded and glanced beyond the doorway to see Sabrina standing there clutching a coffee and looking annoyed.
“Sure am,” I drawled. “That would be her.”
“See,” Sabrina told the assistant. “I told you.”
She flushed and looked at me apologetically. “I’m sorry. She tried to just walk right in. I stopped her. Sometimes guests wander up here…”
“It’s okay. You didn’t know.” I allowed. “This is Sabrina. She’s, ah…” I faltered for a second before saying, “A friend of the family. You’ll probably see her around a bit.”
“Of course. I’ll make sure no one else stops her again.”
“Thanks, doll.”
Off to the side, Sabrina stiffened. I got immense satisfaction that my little pet name annoyed her.
The assistant giggled and went back to her desk, stopping briefly to apologize to Sabrina.
Once she was gone, I got a death glare. I was beginning to look forward to those glares. I just didn’t think my day would be complete without them.
“I leave you alone for ten minutes…” I scoffed.
Sabrina rolled her eyes and brushed past me into the office. The second her shoulder brushed the fabric of my T-shirt, a current of electricity shocked me all the way to my toes.
Damn. I wanted her. I wanted her so much there was no denying it.
“Sabrina,” Liam greeted. “How’s BearPaw treating you?”
“It’s a beautiful resort, well, the little bit I’ve seen of it so far.”
“I see you found the little café downstairs. That’s Bells’s favorite one.”
“I didn’t have much time to look over the menu. I was being rushed,” she replied, a dig at me.
Liam chuckled. “I, ah, have a meeting to get to, but how about we all have dinner tonight?”
“Who’s we all?” Sabrina asked cautiously.
“Me, Bells, and you two,” Liam said. “The Tavern, around seven?”
Subzero (BearPaw Resort Book 4) Page 8
